Millennium Bridge: Chewing gum artist calls for beloved trail to be maintained ahead of upcoming clean

With the Millennium Bridge due to undergo a three-week deep clean, a north London artist is calling for his work to be retained: a trail of hundreds of miniature pictures, all painted on discarded chewing gum.

The bridge, which connects St Paul’s Cathedral in the City of London with the Tate Modern on the south bank of the River Thames, is due to be shut from October 14 to November 5 to allow for a revamp and clean of the crossing.

Ben Wilson, an artist who has spent the last 20 years creating miniature pictures on bits of gum, is requesting however that the City Bridge Foundation preserves his work, so it can continue to be enjoyed once the crossing is re-opened.

A spokesperson for the foundation said it recognises the value of Mr Wilson’s art, and is in consultation with him to identify a “limited” number of pieces to be kept on the bridge.

With a background in art forms including sculpting and painting, Mr Wilson turned his attention to gum in 2004.

Initially creating works in north London, he gradually made his way into the centre of the city, with his well-known trail along the Millennium Bridge towards the Tate Modern beginning in 2011.

Despite a few hiccups en route, including his initial collection being removed in 2012, Mr Wilson estimates the current trail consists of around 600 pieces.

His work has always been informed by the environment, he says, though his decision to turn to gum in the early noughties was the result of a growing frustration with how people engaged with the world around them.

“I then was more and more upset by the rubbish,” he said, “so I started working with it. That’s been a constant thing since 2004.”

Describing his process as “beautifying something thrown away”, Mr Wilson said part of his intention with his work is to encourage people to become “more aware of the impact they have on the environment”, and the wider systemic issue of the vast amounts of packaging and rubbish produced by modern society.

However, he says he is not a nihilist. He believes people have the capacity to do good, and he hopes his work reflects this.

“For me, I try to look at it in a positive way. Taking something that’s thrown away, and turning it into something positive.”

Mr Wilson said the connections he forms, and the stories his pictures tell, inspire his work on the trail.

He talks about an Italian woman who asked him to do a picture recently which was for her grandfather, and pieces he has done in different languages for people using the bridge.

The trail, he says, reflects those connections, and those developed within a city like London.

He said: “I would say that I think London shows, living in London, that multiculturalism works, and it’s something to be celebrated.”

His petition, which at the time of writing sits just below 3,900 signatures, asks for a skeleton group of 100 of the pictures to be maintained during the upcoming clean.

However, he tells LondonWorld in reality he is hoping for more, and that it is impossible to put a specific number on how many should be kept, given the personable nature of each item.

“It’s like, it’s art. You can destroy that canvas, but not that canvas?”

A City Bridge Foundation spokesperson said: “There are currently thousands of pieces of chewing gum on the bridge, including those which Ben has painted and many which are not painted.

“Millennium Bridge is a major London landmark linking two of the capital’s top tourist destinations, and we need to make sure it’s not only structurally sound but is clear of any dirt and debris, including chewing gum, and looks clean and tidy.

“However, we recognise the value of Ben’s art and the fact it is well loved by many people, so in consultation with him, we have offered to let him keep a limited number of pieces of his art, which will be preserved during the maintenance work and cleaning. We will work with Ben to identify which pieces are kept.

“We feel this strikes the right balance between keeping the bridge looking spick and span and allowing people to continue to enjoy some of the artwork Ben has created on the bridge.”